How to Choose the Right University for You如何選擇適合的大學(xué)

瑪麗薩·庫爾頓　陳麗/譯

There are so many post-secondary institutions to choose from in Canada and abroad. How should you weigh your options in order to figure out which school is best for you？ We spoke to students， admissions advisers and admissions consultants for tips on how to prepare for the university search and which questions to ask yourself to make that crucial choice.

在加拿大乃至全球有許多高等教育機(jī)構(gòu)可供選擇。你應(yīng)如何權(quán)衡才能選出最適合自己的學(xué)校？我們采訪了學(xué)生、招生顧問和報(bào)考咨詢師，了解該如何著手選擇學(xué)校，以及在做出這個重要選擇前要問自己一些什么問題。

What do I want？

我想要什么？

Start by doing some honest soul-searching， says first-year English student Gabrielle Cole. “Compile a list of the things that are really important to you when choosing a school，” she says. “If you just jump into the websites， it can be really overwhelming—theres so much information.” Shes happy with her decision to attend McGill University in Montreal， which she chose in part for its strong reputation. The school also offered her the opportunity to leave her home in Richmond Hill， Ont.， and to study in a city where she could regularly use the French she learned in elementary school immersion1. “I think I did adequate research and weighed all the options，” Cole says.

首先要做些誠實(shí)的自省，英語專業(yè)一年級學(xué)生加布里埃爾·科爾說。“選擇學(xué)校時先寫一個清單，列上對你而言真正重要的內(nèi)容?！彼f，“如果直奔網(wǎng)站的話，可能會迷失其中——信息太多了?！彼龑ψ约旱倪x擇很滿意：她挑選了位于蒙特利爾的麥吉爾大學(xué)，部分原因是因?yàn)樵撔５穆曌u(yù)極好。學(xué)校還給她提供了機(jī)會，既能離開她位于安大略省里士滿希爾市的家，又能在新的城市經(jīng)常使用她在小學(xué)沉浸式教育中學(xué)會的法語?！拔矣X得我下了足夠的功夫來研究并權(quán)衡了所有的可選項(xiàng)?！笨茽栒f。

How do I know if a school has what I want？

我怎么知道學(xué)校能滿足我想要的？

Western Universitys manager of undergraduate recruitment， Dayana Kibilds， suggests that students use the “PLACE” framework， where P is for passions， L for location， A for academics， C for community and E for experience. Passions： Is the school going to enable you to pursue your hobbies and extracurricular activities？ Location： Are you a big city or small town person？ Do you prefer self-contained campuses or sprawling2 city campuses？ Academics： Can you switch programs easily？ How are the professors and the degree options？ Community： Will you receive enough support from professors and peers？ And finally， Experience： Does the university have co-op or community volunteering options？

加拿大韋仕敦大學(xué)本科招生經(jīng)理達(dá)亞娜·基比爾茲建議學(xué)生采取“PLACE”判斷準(zhǔn)則，其中P代表愛好，L代表位置，A代表學(xué)業(yè)，C代表社群，E則代表經(jīng)歷。愛好：學(xué)校是否能讓你繼續(xù)你的愛好和課外活動？位置：你喜歡大城市還是小城鎮(zhèn)？喜歡與城市區(qū)隔的獨(dú)立校園還是與城市一體的融合校園？學(xué)業(yè)：你能輕易地轉(zhuǎn)換專業(yè)嗎？有哪些教授和學(xué)位可供選擇？社群：你會從教授和同學(xué)那里獲得足夠的支持嗎？最后，經(jīng)歷：學(xué)校是否提供合作項(xiàng)目或者社區(qū)志愿者活動？

How to ace3 your university application？

如何成功申請大學(xué)？

Before she started at Ryerson University4， Brianna Varone felt drawn toward the field of public health. When looking at available programs， she discovered many differences between them： some branch off into specializations， while others are heavily co-op based. For Varone， quality was key. And Ryerson was also ideally located in the downtown core， just a 45-minute commute from her home.

布里安娜·瓦羅內(nèi)早在上瑞爾森大學(xué)之前就知道自己的興趣在于公共衛(wèi)生領(lǐng)域。她在查看可選課程時發(fā)現(xiàn)其中存在許多差別：有些會細(xì)化為不同專業(yè)方向，而有些則會大量倚重合作項(xiàng)目。對瓦羅內(nèi)而言，質(zhì)量是關(guān)鍵。而且瑞爾森的位置十分理想，位于城市的核心區(qū)，離她家通勤只需45分鐘。

Joel Nicholson， founder of the education consultancy Admissions Ally， stresses the importance of doing your due diligence in exploring what universities have to offer. He suggests that students read through program curriculums and course outlines， reach out to current students， and research available extracurriculars at the universities they are interested in. Doing some extra research might lead you to discover that the program you thought you wanted to get into isnt the one that best suits your needs. “Many students yearn to get into Queen5s commerce or Westerns Ivey H.B.A. AEO6 [program] because they have the reputation as being the ‘best， ” he says. “However， many of my students have ended up choosing schools like Wilfrid Laurier or Waterloo... both have a great co-op program and some students realize thats more important to them than what the ‘top programs offer.”

喬爾·尼科爾森是教育咨詢公司“入學(xué)盟友”的創(chuàng)始人，他強(qiáng)調(diào)，學(xué)生要盡可能努力調(diào)查大學(xué)能夠提供什么，這很重要。對于那些感興趣的學(xué)校，他建議學(xué)生通讀專業(yè)課程安排和課程概論，結(jié)識一些在讀生并調(diào)查學(xué)?？蛇x的課外活動。做些額外的調(diào)查可能會讓你發(fā)現(xiàn)某個你以為自己想要攻讀的專業(yè)并非最符合你的需要?！霸S多學(xué)生渴望進(jìn)入女王大學(xué)的商科或者獲得韋仕敦大學(xué)毅偉商學(xué)院榮譽(yù)商務(wù)管理學(xué)位的優(yōu)先錄取機(jī)會（項(xiàng)目），因?yàn)樗鼈儽徽J(rèn)為是業(yè)內(nèi)‘最棒的?！彼f，“不過，我的很多學(xué)生最終選擇了勞瑞爾大學(xué)或滑鐵盧大學(xué)這樣的學(xué)?！@兩所學(xué)校都有很棒的合作項(xiàng)目，一些學(xué)生意識到，對自己而言，這比那些‘頂尖專業(yè)所能提供的東西更為重要?！?/p>

Who can help me decide？

誰能幫我決定？

Teo Salgado， founder of VerveSmith education consulting based in Toronto， suggests students take advantage of all the resources they have available to them， including guidance counsellors， friends and family. “Advice is most useful when provided by people who know [students] goals or who are familiar with their background and interests.” He also recommends that students speak to their parents or guardians about finances， especially when trying to determine whether living away from home will be economically feasible.

泰奧·薩爾加多是本部設(shè)在多倫多的“韋爾韋史密斯”教育咨詢公司的創(chuàng)始人，他建議學(xué)生利用可用的所有資源，包括輔導(dǎo)員、朋友和家人?！澳切┝私猓▽W(xué)生的）目標(biāo)或熟悉其背景和興趣的人提供的建議最有用。”他還建議學(xué)生與父母或監(jiān)護(hù)人討論財(cái)務(wù)問題，當(dāng)學(xué)生要考慮上學(xué)期間不在家住宿，經(jīng)濟(jì)上能否負(fù)擔(dān)得起時，尤其需要這么做。

Which is better for me： a big or small school？

哪個更適合我：大學(xué)校還是小學(xué)校？

If youre someone who thrives in smaller， quieter groups， then a more intimate learning environment is worth considering. According to Kutay Ulkuer， director of admissions at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick， “Mount Allisonians” benefit from smaller class sizes and informal class discussions， with just a dozen students around a table. The university is so small， he says， that “you cant hide from the faculty，” who know each student and tend to notice when they are not in class.

如果你是那種會在更小、更安靜的群體中茁壯成長的人，那么更親密的學(xué)習(xí)環(huán)境就值得考慮。新不倫瑞克省蒙特愛立森大學(xué)招生主任庫塔依·烏爾庫爾表示，“蒙特愛立森人”受益于較小的班級規(guī)模和非正式的課堂討論，課上只有十幾名學(xué)生圍坐在一張桌子旁。他說，這所大學(xué)小到“你逃不掉老師的監(jiān)督”，老師認(rèn)識每個學(xué)生，往往會注意到誰沒來上課。

On the other hand， if youre a person who feeds off7 the energy of a bustling metropolis， a school in a big city might be best. Before Katie Marsh moved from Vancouver to pursue a degree in philosophy at the University of Toronto， she had heard the school was lonely and the weather in Toronto was awful. “Upon coming here， I realized that didnt hold true at all for me，” she says. “I absolutely love going on runs or walking around the financial district.”

另一方面，假如你需要汲取繁華大都市的活力才能生存下去，那么大城市的學(xué)?？赡苁亲詈玫倪x擇。在離開溫哥華前往多倫多大學(xué)攻讀哲學(xué)學(xué)位之前，凱蒂·馬什聽說在那所大學(xué)里會感到很孤獨(dú)，多倫多的天氣也很糟糕?！皝淼竭@里之后，我意識到那些話對我而言完全不符合實(shí)際情況?！彼f，“我非常喜歡在金融區(qū)跑跑步或散散步?！?/p>

What if I make the wrong choice？

如果我做了錯誤選擇怎么辦？

Salgado notes that students have more control over the admissions process than they think. “Its not so much about what the universities are looking for， [but] what am I looking for， and does that institution offer what Im looking for，” he says. “You have a lot of control. You get to choose universities that you think will want somebody like you.”

薩爾加多注意到，學(xué)生對錄取過程的控制權(quán)比他們想象得要大。“重要的不是大學(xué)想要什么，而是學(xué)生想要什么，而該學(xué)校是否能夠提供學(xué)生想要的東西。”他說，“你有很大的控制權(quán)。要選擇那些你認(rèn)為需要像自己這樣的學(xué)生的大學(xué)。”

Public health student Varone says you shouldnt panic if you dont get into your top-choice program， or if you realize the program youre in isnt for you. You can often make a lateral8 move within the university from one related program to another. “You dont need to know exactly what youre going to do; youll figure it out later on，” she says.

公共衛(wèi)生專業(yè)的學(xué)生瓦羅內(nèi)說，假如你沒有被首選專業(yè)錄取，或者你意識到所學(xué)專業(yè)并不適合自己，不用驚慌。通?？梢栽谛?nèi)相關(guān)專業(yè)間橫向調(diào)換?！澳悴恍枰F(xiàn)在就非常清楚自己要做什么；你以后會弄明白的。”她說。

Philosophy student Marsh adds that students should avoid putting too much pressure on themselves to make the perfect decision. When it comes to choosing a university， all you can do is make the best choice you can with the information you have. The decision isnt permanent. “I know that whatever I do， there are pros and cons to every situ-ation，” she says. “Every experience is a learning opportunity.”

哲學(xué)專業(yè)的學(xué)生馬什補(bǔ)充說，學(xué)生應(yīng)避免為做出完美選擇而給自己施加太多壓力。在選擇大學(xué)時，你所能做的就是根據(jù)已有信息做出最佳選擇。該決定并非永久不變?！拔抑?，無論我怎么選，每種選擇都有利有弊。”她說，“每段經(jīng)歷都是一個學(xué)習(xí)的機(jī)會。”

（譯者單位：北京外國語大學(xué)英語學(xué)院）

1蒙特利爾是加拿大乃至全球使用法語人口最多的城市之一。? 2 sprawling蔓延的，以雜亂無序的方式向外伸展的。? 3 ace該詞常用作名詞，指紙牌里的A。此處用作及物動詞，指順利地取得（某事的）成功。? 4該校現(xiàn)名多倫多都會大學(xué)（Toronto Metropolitan University），是加拿大安大略省公立研究型大學(xué)之一。瑞爾森大學(xué)為其曾用名。

5 = Queens University（女王大學(xué)），該校坐落于加拿大安大略省金斯頓，是一所世界一流公立研究型大學(xué)。? 6毅偉商學(xué)院是加拿大最古老、最有影響力的商學(xué)院之一。大學(xué)生在入校兩年后可以申請入毅偉攻讀榮譽(yù)工商管理學(xué)士學(xué)位（HBA， Honors Business Administration）。毅偉是加拿大唯一一所可以授予HBA的商學(xué)院，其他商學(xué)院只能授予普通的工商管理學(xué)士學(xué)位（BBA， Bachelor of Business Administration）。優(yōu)先錄取機(jī)會項(xiàng)目（AEO， Advanced Entry Opportunity）是一種讓學(xué)生有條件預(yù)錄取進(jìn)入毅偉HBA專業(yè)的項(xiàng)目。

7 feed off以……為食物來源；依靠……為生。? 8 lateral橫向的，側(cè)面的。此處指從一個專業(yè)到另一個專業(yè)的同層次轉(zhuǎn)換。